Neighbours of Topaz Park are divided on whether they would like to see the temporary fencing that limits access to parts of the park come down.
The blue fencing went up after a temporary homeless camp was cleared out under a provincial order in late May and many of the former campers moved into motels bought and leased by the province.
Nearly three months later, fencing still blocks off some sections of the park, including a wooded area in the southeast corner where dogs could be off-leash and a baseball diamond. Park users can access a playground, a large field with three baseball diamonds — some of which is also an off-leash dog area — a soccer field, a lacrosse box, parking lots and bathrooms.
Maurice Degroot, who works nearby, takes his dog, Phoebe, for a lunchtime walk most days in the park. He said he misses the wooded off-leash area, where Phoebe would meet and play with other dogs, and is looking forward to the fencing coming down.
“I think as far as dogs go, [the wooded area] is way healthier for them,” Degroot said.
“It feels like a more natural setting than a manicured space, so we’re missing that.”
It will be at least a month until the fencing is removed, said a spokesperson for B.C. Housing. The agency, which managed the temporary camp, is responsible for the cost of remediating the city park.
Since June, contractors have remediated trees and shrubs and completed a general clean up of the area, said B.C. Housing spokeswoman Laura Mathews.
“It’s anticipated that park fencing will be down by the end of September, contingent on the city’s approval. The final cost of remediation at Topaz Park will be available when work is complete,” she wrote in an email.
Bill Eisenhauer, a spokesman for the City of Victoria, said damaged turf needs to be replaced. After the park was cleared, crews fenced off sections of the park, cleaned up the area and visually inspected for damage and hazards. The assessment did not identify any concerns about soil contamination.
The partial closure also allows crews to irrigate, aerate and fertilize the areas around tree root systems, which were heavily impacted by people sheltering, Eisenhauer said.
“It takes time for the new turf to re-establish before it can be opened back up to people using the area,” he said by email.
Rabbi Meir Kaplan, who works at the Chabad Centre for Jewish Life and Learning across from the park, said he’s not eager for the fencing to come down, because he’s worried that people will return to the area to shelter.
Kaplan also lives across the street from the park, and he said noises from the camp kept him up at night and children from the centre’s daycare weren’t using the playground due to safety concerns.
“In the last week, we’ve had a couple of tents pop up, and we definitely don’t want this park to turn into what it was a couple of months ago,” he said.
The Pandora Avenue corridor, where informal sheltering took place, is fenced off for similar remediation work. Two trees “in severe decline” were removed from the corridor, Eisenhauer said.
Remediation along Pandora will be funded by the city, but the cost won’t be known until work is done, Eisenhauer said. B.C. Housing was not involved in the site.
Sheltering in Topaz Park is currently prohibited under a ministerial order. A city bylaw prohibits overnight camping on the Pandora corridor.
